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Cameo Clips

By Stan Soocher
October 29, 2009

COPYRIGHT OWNERSHIP/INEFFECTIVE TRANSFER

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a declaratory ruling that singer Barbara Mason owns the song copyright to her 1965 hit recording “Yes, I'm Ready.” Mason v. Jamie Music Publishing Co. (JMP), 05 Civ. 9922(BSJ)(JCF). Mason was 17 years old when she wrote the song. A Philadelphia Orphan's Court had appointed a guardian for Mason and directed the guardian to execute management, recording and songwriter agreements on her behalf. The songwriter agreement with Stilran Music & Dandelion Music (i.e., JMP) stated that Mason assigned to the publishers the rights in songs that she previously wrote that were listed on a Schedule B, but Schedule B wasn't filed with the Orphan's Court. The publishers federally registered the copyright in 1965 with themselves as claimants; Mason filed a renewal copyright in 1993 listing herself as copyright owner. In 2007, she signed an agreement to sell her copyright interest to Embassy Music Corp.

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